إِذا ما دَعَوتَ الشَيخَ شَيخاً هَجَوتَهُ

وَحَسبُكَ مَدحاً لِلفَتى قَولُ يا فَتى

If you call an old man “old man,” you have lampooned him;

and praise enough for a young man is to say, “O young man!”

أُشَبِّهُ أَيّامَ الشَبابِ الَّتي مَضَت

وَأَيّامَنا في الشَيبِ بِالفَقرِ وَالغِنى

I liken the days of youth that have passed

and these gray-haired days of ours—to poverty and wealth.